Naruto's Return
by AnimeIsMyLife7
Summary: Team 8 dwells on Naruto's return from his three year apprenticeship. Slightly OOC. Hinted NaruHina. One-shot.


**A: N/ Hey! I found this in my closet, so I decided to type it up and post it. This takes place right after Naruto meets up with Team 8 again after coming back from his training trip. It's a bit OOC. I know it's really descriptive in the beginning, almost to the point of being annoying (Hopefully not already there), but I wanted to try something like this, so....**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Or Snuggie. Though I wish I did. x D**

* * *

"Hinata, I love you." He blurted earnestly. Hinata stared at her life long crush, surprised.

"N...Naruto-kun..." She whispered softly, her lavender eyes widening. His expression softened while his lips twitched up in to handsome smile. She quickly hid her rosy cheeks by letting her long, indigo locks cascade down her face.

"Hinata..." He whispered back, hugging her tightly to his muscular chest.

"Hinata! Oi, Hinata! Wake! Up!" Inuzuka Kiba yelled in to Hinata's ear, shaking her awake. Hinata opened her eyes, blinking owlishly a few times.

"...Huh? Wh...W-what happened?" She asked, confused. Kiba and his partner, Akamaru, grinned impishly at her.

_How can Akamaru grin? He's a dog. _Shino pondered to himself, jumping down from his perch on the tree Hinata was leaning against. _No matter how long I stay with Kiba_, Shino decided, _I'll never get used to Akamaru. Though I'll never show it_. He internally snorted, slightly amused. _Not that I ever show anything_.

"You fainted when you saw Naruto again." Shino answered, his voice remaining calmly detached. Hinata felt her cheeks get hot; restoring the permanent blush that normally adorned her pale skin.

"I..I d-did?" She stuttered uneasily as the memories of earlier cam crashing back.

_Naruto-kun was so close to me..._ She thought dreamily.

"Hai (1), you most certainly did." Kiba laughed, knocking Hinata back in to reality.

"Enough, Kiba." The trio's sensei, Kurenai, said sternly, walking in to Hinata's line of vision.

"Gomen (2), Kurenai-sensei." Kiba replied sheepishly.

_Thanks. _Hinata mouthed. Kurenai just smiled.

"You need to stop hanging out with Kakashi, sensei. You're catching his trend of being late." Shino scolded, trying to change the subject. Kurenai laughed, relieved that the situation had been diffused so quickly. Usually when Kiba started teasing Hinata, it was hard to get him to stop.

"I'll be sure to tell him what you think." She winked. Hinata smiled back, her face glowing.

_I wonder what Naruto-kun's doing. _She thought idly. _I'm so happy he's back... I missed him like crazy._ _No, more than that. Words can't describe how deeply I missed him._ _Not that I'll ever have enough courage to tell him that. _Hinata grimaced slightly, the change of her expression barely noticeable.

_Hinata seems very distracted. I wonder if it's a good thing that Naruto's back. At least any sign of depression is gone._ Kurenai concluded. She cared deeply for her team, especially Hinata, whom she thought of as a daughter, and just wanted what was best for them. _Wait... Something feels wrong here_. She looked closely at each student, until her eyes landed on Shino. He was looking at the ants crawling on the ground, sulking.

"Shino, what's wrong?" The young teacher asked gently. Shino shrugged, but said nothing. She looked pointedly at Hinata, urging her to ask too. Hinata could be quite the little manipulator if she really tried. The Hyuuga nodded faintly, putting on her best pouting face.

"S-Shino-kun, w-what's wrong?" She whimpered softly, sounding like an injured puppy. Shino scowled stubbornly, but eventually grunted in defeat.

"Naruto didn't recognize me, but he recognized you and Kiba right away." The bug user admitted gruffly, clearly still irked. Kiba howled with laughter, and Kurenai had to try hard to hide a small smile from blooming on her lips.

_Oh, Naruto...._ Hinata frowned.

"Maybe he just... Um... well.... Maybe he just doesn't have a good memory, Shino-kun." Hinata tried, unsuccessfully, to cheer the boy up.

"Why did he remember everyone else then?"

"I think it's because you rarely talk, bug-boy." Kiba grinned. Shino glared at the brunette, and Hinata tried in vain to calm them down.

_Naruto coming back sure has made a commotion_. Kurenai thought fondly. _But I think everyone's in better spirits now that Konoha's number one most surprising ninja is back._ She looked at her team arguing with each other, and smiled again. _I'm sure he'll help us all.

* * *

_

**A/N: Ahh, I hoped you liked it. R&R!**

**Vocab**

**(1) Yes**

**(2) Sorry  
**


End file.
